Shock absorber



E. L. THOMAS SHOCK ABSORBER Filed July 9. 1925 July 6,1926. 1,591,895

Patented July e, was. I I I 1 Eas s ane ee ea same wet umm- H00KAB$PRBE3- Application filed July 9, 1925. Serial No. 42,466.

My invention is a shock absorber which and a bolt hole 3 through whichthe perch functions as an additional spring to effect may be bolted. Thespring of the ordinary 'a'gztion and with 'a snubber attached type isindicated by the numeral 4; andthe thereto. "My shock absorber'is'particularly ordinary spring shackles 5 mav be used, designed foruse with transverse springs exthus only discarding the spring perch, antending" across an airleand is adapted to My snubber and combined shockabsorber fit'tliehisual construction of'the axle and is illustrated morefully in Figs/fife 5 'sjp r'ing suspensioii' of the Ford autoand'has alower arm 6 which is stationary melons. and a swivelling upper arm 7'connected by shock absorber takes the place of the pivot pinS extendingthrougha hub 9 60 b f 51 ijo'nn'e'eting'"the spring shackles toandthrough an aperture 10 in the ends of thiea'iile and is 'iiiadein theform of a pair the arm 7 The outer end 11 of the arin .6 of hiiigedarmls with a spring between the is prov'ided with a flat base 12 whichat the arn sand the transverse spring of a Ford center portion has a lug'13 extending therehung from'a shackle on'theupper arm. The above andforming a square seat for the bolt 65 ljoweralrin is bolted in place onthe axle by 14- extending through the bolt hole 8 of the bolupassingthrough the'bolt hole of axle 2. This lug preferably has a raised thespring perche'sand thelower arm exextension 15 on one side to keepthebolt tendssubstantially parallel to the axle and from turning. Thehub is preferably slighthay'e the outer end bearing on the axle lyrounded on its lower side as indicated at 7 ii desired. The upperarmextends outward- 1 6 so that it may rest on the top of the axle. ly sothatthehelically coiledsprings secured The upper arm 7 is formed on acurve and between the basesof' thearins are substanhas a bearing plate17 formed adjacent the ltially above the perch clamping bolts and endsand preferably made integral with the lightly inclined thereto. A strapmay be arms. lhis bearing plate has a series of [connected'to'the endsof the arms to prevent short ribs 18 similar to ribs 1.9 (in th b 12their swingingtoo wide apart, on a rebound. and these ribs are adap'tedto retain c'om- My inye'ntionwillbe more readily underpression springs20 in position. It is destood from the following description andsi'r'able to havethe base lfZslightly inclined drawings 'Y inwardly sothat the springs 20 are not in R0 Figure 1 is front elevation of anautoa vertical line but inclined inwardly) mobile showing myshook'absorber attached A boss 27 is preferably formed integral thereto. "Theillustration depicts thesnubwith the arms and depends downwardly hersattached to .thesta ndard' front axle and therefrom; A hole is formedthrough the 3. spring 'ofthe Ford automobile, onesnubber boss for theinsertion of the shackle pin 28 beingsliowii in longitudinal section andthe to engage thespring shackles 5. As above other in e lenation Jdescribed these shackles may be of the ordi- Fig 2 'is'a front elevationof one of the nary type'and the arms 7 are spaced a sufsniibbers itsattachment to a front ficient distance apart so that the spring mayextend freely through the space between .the

isasection on the line 3-4) otFig. arms and have freeaction of'swivelling on 2 in e dir tionoi thearrows showing the "the shacklesandthe boss'fzi;

tii for the triple springs." The arms at their extreme outer ends are i4" section on"1-t-li e""lir1e 4-4 of formed with slots wand 30 in the-lower' and r 2 in theidirection of arrows. uppa arms 'rfespectifielythrough whichds Fig JS ,aplan yie'w of F '2 in the threaded a strapfilhaving' a buckle falstenidllifi' ti n 5 the i w i v I iRejeri'ingparticularly to Fig. the axle The action of my shock absorberis sub- L ""ttinjobil isdesignated ithenir stantially as follo'wst Thecoil "springs 20 1 U was P rc "were? ea r. 'fi e 1P9 the leaf spring lor else more resilient so as to compress under lighter loads. If thecoil springs are stiffer most of the small jolts in ordinary running onfairly smooth pavement will be taken by the leaf springs and the severejolts will cause the compression of both the leaf and the coil springs.On the rebound upwardly of the coil springs the strap 31 will preventexcessive movement and thereby eliminate a severe rebound.

Should the coil spring 20 be made less stifi' than the leaf spring 4,most of the road jars from uneven pavement will be taken by the coilsprings with comparatively little fiexure of the leaf spring. However,on severe jolts both .sets of springs will be compressed and again onthe re bound the strap 31 will prevent an excessive upthrow.

\Vhile I have illustrated and described the springs as attached to thefront axle of an automobile they may be attached in a somewhat similarmanner to the rear axle, requiring but slight change in the design tosecure the lower arm to the axle. It is manifest that the details ofconstruction may be considerably changed to suit the shapes of axles orsprings on difibrent makes of automobiles and that the details of thespring mountings and types of spring used in my shock absorber may bematerially changed without departing from the spirit of my invention.

lVith my construction of shock absorber, the base supporting the springswill be canted slightly to conform to the pitch given to the axle and byhaving the spring shackles positioned inward on the springs the standardautomobile spring may be used without lengthening or shortening. Theconstruction of the shock absorber functions to prevent or reduce theswaying in making a sharp turn or a turn at high speed.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A shock absorber comprising in com hination a lower arm having a pairof side bars, a base secured to the outer end of said bars and beingadapted to be bolted to the seat of the spring perch on an axle, thesaid side bars extending towards the center of the axle substantiallyparallel therewith, an upper arm pivotally connected to the inner end ofthe lower arm and comprising a pair of side bars. a bearing plateconnecting the outer ends of said side bars. helical springs between thebase and the bearing plate and a spring shackle swivelled to the upperarm; adapted to support a spring passing through the side bars of theupper arm.

2. A shock absorber, comprising in combination a lower arm having a pairof side bars, a base secured to the outer ends of said bars, means torigidly bolt the base to the axle of a vehicle on the upper sidethereof, an upper arm swivelly connected to the lower arm at the innerends of said arm, the

upper arm being formed of a pair of bars,

a bearing plate at the outer end of the upper arm connecting the bars,coiled springs between the base and the bearing plate of the lower andupper arms, and means to operatively connect a vehicle spring to theupper arms.

3. The combination with a vehicle axle having a spring perch seat, of ashock ahsorber having a lower arm formed with side bars, the said sidebars being adapted to extend parallel to the axle on each side thereof,a base secured to the outer ends of said arms, means to bolt the saidbase to the spring perch seat on'the upper side of the axle. a hub onthe inner end of the lower arm connecting the side bars and resting onthe top of the axle, an upper arm having a pair of side bars, a boltextending through the said hub, a bearing plate on the outer end of thesaid upper arm, connecting the side bars, a spring shackle swivellyconnected to the side bars of the upper arm, and a spring extendedbetween the said side bars and connected to the said shackle.

l. The combination with a vehicle axle, having a spring perch seatadjacent the outer end of the axle and an upper surface inclined towardthe center of the axle, of a shock absorber having a lower arm with apair of side bars, a base connecting the outer ends of said side bars,the base being tilted to conform substantially to the inclination of theaxle, a hub connecting the inner end of the said side bars, said hubbeing adapted to rest on the axle, an upper arm having a pair of sidebars, a bolt swivelly connecting said arms to the hub a bearing plate atthe outer end of the upper arm between the side bars, compressionsprings between the bearing plate and the base, a boss connecting theside bars of the upper arm adjacent the bearing plate, a spring shackleswivellcd thereto and a vehice spring extending between the side -barsof the upper arm and connected to said shackle.

A shock absorber, comprising in combination a. lower arm having a pairof side bars, a base secured to the outer ends of said bars and beingtilted inwardly and from front to rear to conform to the pitch of anaxle. a lug formed integral with the base and having a surface parallelto the base of the axle whereby a bolt may be passed through thelug,'the base and the axle, a hub at the inner end of the bars having anaperture therethrough for a pivot pin. an upper arm having a pair ofside bars pivotally connected to the pin and having a bearing plateconnecting their outer ends, helical springs between the base and 5,having in addition slots formed at the the bearing plate, a boss formedbetween outer end of the lower and upper arms and the two bars of theupper arm, a spring a strap secured therethrough forming a re- 10shackle swivelled to said boss and a vebound snubber. hicle springpassing between the bars of the In testimony whereof I have signed myupper arm engaging spring shackles. name to this specification.

6. A shock absorber as claimed in claim E. L. THOMAS.

